Chapter 4
878 Words
The next afternoon, Sabrina met Alice Vance at a café and completed the sale without a hitch.
Alice could hardly put the Tears down. Delighted, she warmly invited Sabrina to a gathering of society wives the following day.
Sabrina had intended to refuse, but when Alice mentioned that "quite a few of the ladies are envious of how generous Mr. Hayes is with you, always giving you jewelry," something stirred in her mind. She thought of all the pieces still sitting in her safe, waiting to be turned into cash, and changed her mind. She agreed to attend.
Following Alice's reminder not to dress too plainly, Sabrina carefully styled herself and put on another valuable piece from her collection before showing up at the gathering.
She carried herself with perfect grace, maintaining the image of the pampered Mrs. Hayes. Without making it too obvious, she casually mentioned that she had too much jewelry and was thinking of selling a few pieces. Sure enough, several of the ladies immediately showed interest.
By evening, Sabrina returned home in a pleasant mood.
But the moment she stepped inside, she saw John sitting in the shadows of the living room sofa. A cigarette that had nearly burned to the end rested between his fingers, and several cigarette butts had already piled up in the ashtray.
At the sound of the door opening, he lifted his head and looked at her calmly. His voice carried no discernible emotion. "You're back."
Sabrina's hand paused almost imperceptibly as she removed her coat, but she quickly returned to normal.
"Mm." She answered softly, changed her shoes, and was about to head upstairs.
"This afternoon," John said again. His voice was not loud, but it reached her ears clearly. "You went to Mrs. Vance's gathering?"
His tone sounded casual, but Sabrina could sense the undercurrent beneath that calm surface.
She stopped, turned to look at him, and spoke lazily. "Yes. Alice was so insistent that it was hard to say no, so I went for a little while."
John slowly stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
Then he raised his eyes, his gaze dark and heavy. "Didn't you hate those kinds of events the most? In the past, whenever people invited you, you always refused. Why are you willing to go now?"
Sabrina answered with a smile that never reached her eyes. "People change. I didn't like it before, but now I think looking at jewelry and chatting about gossip is actually quite interesting."
She paused, her fingers brushing over the necklace at her throat. "Besides, you've given me so much. If everything just sits in the safe gathering dust, wouldn't that be such a waste?"
"Waste?" John repeated the word, his voice sinking lower. He stood up and walked toward her step by step. "Sabrina, you would never have said the word 'waste' before. You could barely be bothered to give those things a second look. And now you're not only attending those vulgar gatherings where women compare and show off, but you're also starting to care about waste?"
He stopped in front of her. His tall figure cast a shadow over Sabrina, and disappointment and confusion churned in his eyes. "What happened to you? Why did you suddenly become like this?"
"Become like what?" Sabrina lifted her eyes and met his gaze without backing down.
The peaceful illusion they had silently maintained these past few days was finally being torn apart.
"Have I become just like those women you consider vulgar? Or have I simply stopped being the Sabrina in your mind, the one who supposedly looked down on money?"
She took a step forward and stared him down. Her voice was not loud, but every word struck with precision. "John, tell me. Do you really love me, or do you love the anti-rich symbol you projected onto me so you could fight against the shadow of your past? Because Lana once left you for money, you had to find a woman who treated money like dirt, just to prove something to yourself and rebel against your parents. Isn't that right?"
Her words were like a blade, cutting straight into the most hidden corner of John's heart.
His expression changed sharply. He seized her wrist, his grip so hard that she frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You know damn well whether I'm talking nonsense or not!" Sabrina's eyes reddened slightly, but her expression remained cold.
"For the past four years, we lived peacefully only because I had the image you liked! Now that I'm no longer the same as before, you can't accept it, can you?"
"Shut up! Sabrina, you've truly disappointed me!" John was completely enraged. He flung her hand away, his eyes burning as if they were about to spit fire.
He glared at her, then snatched his coat from the sofa and slammed the door behind him.
The thunderous sound of the door echoed through the villa, shattering the last trace of peace.
Sabrina stood where she was, the pain from his grip still lingering around her wrist.
She looked at the tightly shut door, her heart utterly unmoved.
Four days. Only four days left.
She took a deep breath, flexed her wrist, then turned and went upstairs.
- Writer
